Sunday, September 29, 2013

"It Is Well With My Soul" has been a favorite hymn of mine for quite a while. It became even more personally important this summer at camp. It became even more heart-wrenchingly beautiful this evening as I heard the story of the author. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well (it is well),with my soul (with my soul),It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,Let this blest assurance control,That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul.It is well (it is well),with my soul (with my soul),It is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!My sin, not in part but the whole,Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well (it is well),with my soul (with my soul),It is well, it is well with my soul.For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:If Jordan above me shall roll,No pang shall be mine, for in death as in lifeThou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

It is well (it is well),with my soul (with my soul),It is well, it is well with my soul.And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,Even so, it is well with my soul.It is well (it is well),with my soul (with my soul),It is well, it is well with my soul.

"The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. . . .Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heartbe acceptable in your sight,O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

~Psalm 19:1,14

Saturday, September 28, 2013

"Notre Dame! The great cathedral of which France is justly proud was naturally the objective of one of my earliest artistic pilgrimages, I may say of the very earliest. The tall columns, whose shafts, composed of little assembled columns, rise clear to the vaults; the admirable proportions of the nave; the choir, the seats of old carved oak, the railings wrought of iron--this harmonious and magnificent pile impressed me deeply. But what enchanted me more than anything else was the marvelous glass of the lateral rose windows, and even more, perhaps, the rays of sunlight that vibrated in the church, in various directions, intensely coloured, as a result of having passed through these sumptuous windows. I quite forgot where I was. I took my handkerchief from my pocket, a white handkerchief, and I waved it in the beams of coloured light . . . ." ~Loie Fuller

How different it is to have personally been to place that you read about in an essay than to be seeing solely through the writer's eyes.

My trip to Europe seems a bit like a dream now, except the moments when I read of places I've seen, paths I've walked upon -- then, it suddenly seems much more real -- for a minute or two, at least.

p.s. Just in case you were wondering, not even a minute after the events recorded in her quote, Loie Fuller was removed from the cathedral by a security guard.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

In my Middle Eastern Literature class, we talked about the differences between Disney's Aladdin and the original tale (at least as it was written down by Europeans). [Shocking assignment for an American class on Middle Eastern Literature, I know.]

One of the things we discussed is that Americans don't like boundlessness.
The writers of the film (among maaaaannnnyyyy other things) gave a boundary to Aladdin's wishes. Instead of having an unlimited number of wishes Aladdin is granted only 3 in the Disney version.

We don't like concepts we can't fully comprehend and we don't like power that we don't have some level of control over. (We also don't like characters without internal agency.)

But, God is boundless . . . and that is beautiful.

"‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.'" ~Jeremiah 32:17

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." ~Acts 17:24-25"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." ~Psalm 90:2"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord.' " ~Isaiah 66:1-2

"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." ~ Colossians 1:17

Saturday, September 21, 2013

When I initially heard it, it seemed like a good quote to me - a little silly in presentation (somewhat Dr. Suess-ish), but valuable in intent.

I was thinking about again this afternoon though and it took on a lot more meaning.

We always have the option to present things in language -in our words- which end up being entirely hollow.

Our walk, our motion, our movement is unquestionably honest.

"As a matter of fact, motion has been the starting point of all effort at self-expression, and it is faithful to nature. In experiencing one sensation we cannot express another by motions, even when we can do so in words." ~Loie Fuller

“. . . it seemed very personal, because it was contained in the bodies of the dancers, and the body is so revealing. When a dancer comes onstage, he is not just a blank slate that the choreographer has written on. Behind him he has all of the decisions he has made in life. He has already met a million forks in the road. Each time, he has chosen, and in what he is onstage you see the result of those choices. You are looking at the person he is, the person who, at this point, he cannot help but be. All of the experiences he has had as a child and as a teenager, all the images his body has accumulate, these come up as colors in the dancing giving it sparkle and complexity. They come out through the eyes, through the pores. . . . all dancers are self-revealing, and this is true no matter what the style of dancing. . . . Within a minute, you are receiving a personal message.” ~Mikhail
Baryshnikov

On the cross He took my sin

By His death I live again"

Thursday, September 19, 2013

You know there is no sense of "normalcy" left in your relationship with your roommate when she looks at you and says the following in the same voice she would use to dramatically read a fortune cookie,

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Monday, September 16, 2013

"It is interesting to note that modern dance began at the same time as silent movies--when people were becoming used to seeing expressive movement and gesture without the benefit of dialogue, and with one or more musicians playing background music." ~Charles H. Woodford

Sunday, September 15, 2013

"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will,working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." ~Hebrews 13:20-21

Saturday, September 14, 2013

"In the older civilizations the questions were of a religious kind, concerned mainly with life hereafter. This world and this life interested them much less. What they principally wanted to know was what the life hereafter was like and what they could do so that their journey to that other world might be a successful one."

~The Study of Philosophy (p. 17), S. Morris Engel and Agelika Soldan

Perhaps we've always understood that we were created for another world?

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” ~Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

Sunday, September 8, 2013

this afternoon I went to see a film with my roommates,
and then walked back to my apartment . . .

. . . it was of those films that fills your head with thoughts* . . .

There is a patch of grass that wasn't trimmed, but taking root and gaining stability is more important than conformity The sun is shining and the wind is gently moving my skirtWhy must I walk into artificial light? the hallway looks so gloomyI always think I want to be alone (too)but then I never really do What do we gain in growing up? and, what do we lose in lack of companionship?

*which makes me think of a quote by Tennessee Williams . . . .

"Men pity and love each other more deeply than they permit themselves to know. . . . So successfully have we disguised from ourselves the intensity of our own feelings, the sensibility of our own hearts, that plays in the tragic tradition have begun to seem untrue. For a couple of hours we may surrender ourselves to a world of fiercely illuminated values in conflict, but when the stage is covered and the auditorium lighted, almost immediately there is a recoil of disbelief. 'Well, well!' we say as we shuffle back up the aisle, while the play dwindles behind us with the sudden perspective of an early Chirico painting. "

Monday, September 2, 2013

One of the most awesome people on the planet, otherwise known as Anna or Annie, came with my parents and me to Erie to help me unpack and see my college :) Yesterday, my parents took us to Presque Isle before they all left for Maryland again.